1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an outer mirror structure for a vehicle which is provided to vehicles, such as an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles such as automobiles include, as an outer mirror (outer back mirror), a door mirror for viewing rearward or a side of the vehicles. A door mirror generally includes a base part that is fixed to a door, a housing that is rotatably supported by the base part, and a mirror that is provided in the housing for reflecting rearward or a side of a vehicle.
Regarding such a door mirror, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H8-156687, for example, discloses a technical idea that the height of a base part of a door mirror is set to be substantially same as that of a beltline mold so that the base part and the beltline mold are visually integrated. In this case, the beltline mold is composed of a long and thin belt-like member which is mounted along an upper edge of a door outer panel and is mounted on the door outer panel to dress up a vehicle or to enhance the appearance of a vehicle.
Other than the beltline mold mounted on an upper edge of the door outer panel, various kinds of molds are used to decorate, for example, a window line, a door mirror, and a tale lamp.
Examples of a door mirror on which a mold is mounted are illustrated in FIGS. 12A to 12C. FIG. 12A shows a door mirror having a mold mounted along an oblique line of a base part that is formed in a substantially triangle shape. FIG. 12B shows a door mirror having a mold mounted along a part of a side of a base part that is parallel to the horizontal direction. FIG. 12C shows a door mirror having a mold mounted along a curved surface of the housing that projects outward. In all the examples described above, the molds are mounted on either one of the base part or the housing.
When molds are mounted on both of a base part of a door mirror and a housing that is rotatably supported by the base part so that the base part and the housing appear to be integrated, it is necessary to ensure a space large enough for the housing to rotate in a predetermined angle and to make the appearance configuration of the door mirror round-shaped, which disadvantageously restricts the shape of the door mirror as follows.
First, because the housing of the door mirror is projected outside of a vehicle by a predetermined length and may come in contact with a pedestrian, the housing is required to be rotatable forward or rearward of the vehicle by a predetermined load at an angle large enough to alleviate an impact to the pedestrian when the housing comes in contact with the pedestrian.
Second, an outer end of the base part of the door mirror that is fixed to a door and can not be rotated must not exceed the end line of the vehicle overall width.
Third, it is necessary to form all angle parts of the outer surface of a door mirror in a rounded shape whose curvature radius is equal to or more than a predetermined value regardless of whether the housing is positioned in a normal position where a driver can view the rearward of a vehicle or an inclined position (rotated position) where the housing is rotated forward or rearward of the vehicle at a predetermined angle with respect to the base part.